Not Even Possible (Nico di Angelo LS)
by LonerReader
Summary: Genevieve. That's her whole name. That's all she knows. She comes from Tartarus. That's the last thing she remembers. She's powerful. That's what everyone knows. She's only thirteen and unclaimed. That's what Athena, her guardian to Camp Half-Blood remembers before watching over the forces of Gaea. But there's something behind this girl that's not right, not even possible...
1. Chapter 1

I was only trying to reach the safety of the building - and I was pretty sure it was the Empire State Building - because there was some sort of . . . Monster chasing me in the rain and thunder. It was a large monster, maybe seven or eight feet tall. He had horns on his head and a ring in his snout, a human body, but an animal head. What was wrong with this picture?

"HELP!" I screamed, running into the empty building, looking over at the one man behind the desk. He only looked up and then looked back down at his magazine, then he shot his head back up when the monster crashed through the doors. Glass shattered all around my feet and stabbed at my exposed legs (and yet to this time I still don't know why I was wearing a wrapped dress and strappy sandals).

"Quick! Go to the elevator and hit the very top floor! NOW!" The man was yelling at me. I was running towards it faster than anything when something happened, something I didn't expect to happen.

Lightning flooded the lobby as the man stood up in shock. The lightning struck the monster in the chest, who wailed in protest, falling to his knees as the lightning spread over his body. The glass around him started to connect to the lightning and bounce off of all the pieces onto the monster again. It reminded me of a light show in some ways.

"What are you waiting for? Run!" My attention was directed back to the man who was standing up. I didn't get to look at him for five seconds before I noticed the lightning was slithering towards me. My eyes wide, I turned back around and ran into the elevator, willing the doors to close fast enough. I frantically looked at the buttons and stopped when a button flashed on the panel. Did that really just happen?

I pressed it considering it was the biggest number on the panel. I was flung to the back of the elevator when the doors shut closed and the elevator was flying upwards. Now, I hadn't the slightest thought of the last time I was ever in an elevator (or how I even remembered what one was), but one thing I was sure was that it wasn't suppose to be going up a million miles an hour. When the elevator did stop however, I was jolted out and onto a cement-like pathway.

But that wasn't the start of it.

When I looked up, everything glowed in a godly way (literally, godly). The buildings were toppled white, some piled on other buildings, even. Most of the buildings were covered in white, saluted with hand caved columns to support the front. And then there were the people.

All people were staring at me in shock, anger, or fear. The fear I had no knowledge of why they were using it.

Then came the stomps.

When I turned around, I could still hear the stomps of the monster coming for me, smashing the elevator that had left me. The place where the elevator would appear was electrified, tiny surges of lightning becoming stronger, reaching out for me.

I took action and stood up, running for the biggest building out of all the others. People practically made a path for me, but some were shouting at me and others were following me, maybe sensing the monster too, or more likely to stop me. After all, I don't belong here as their stares had made clear.

When I finally reached the doors, they were already open, ten feet tall, and open. I ran inside and took a sharp turn to the left, not even knowing where I was going, and I barged through a double set of doors, ten feet tall as well. And so were the people.

Ten or nine feet tall people were standing up in utter shock at my barge-in and were in what seemed to be in a heavily armed argument. The people behind me had come to a halt behind me, and then they . . . bowed?

The people who were fighting stopped, noticing all of the newcomers that had rudely barged in, and looked over at us.

"What brings you here, Thalassa and Others?" One of the very tall men asked. Before anyone could speak, his eyes landed on me and the first question was illuminated into thin air. "What in Gods name- Who are you?" The question hung in the air before I answered with a weak, and panted, "Genevieve."

Everything fell silent. Their eyes looked over me in a crucifying way, making me wonder if they were setting if I was dangerous or if I was no threat.

"Thalassa, as spirit of the sea and consort of Pontos the god of the sea, take her down to Poseiden who resides in the nearest coast of Cap Half-Blood. I have no intention of harming her, but I fear she is a great threat to Olympus and-"

"_Zeus_," a woman said next to the man named Zeus. "This girl . . . She is nowhere suppose to be near here but the Minotaur was after her. You've taken care of the Minotaur as well. We need to keep her safe if she is to figure out what she is capable of . . ." As she trailed off, the other "gods" I presumed looked over to me, intensely staring at me. Then, it was as if something snapped in their eyes, because the next thing I knew they were all arguing about me.

"Zeus! She _cannot _go to Camp Half-Blood! The war was just over! What if she were to be an air to Gaea-"

"We have to think rationally. Athena, are you sure she is suppose to go to the Camp? What if-"

"Aphrodite, I can see how this is going to end. If she isn't taught the good ways of nature than things will go bad, although I can see in her eyes she would never take the other way around to the darkest ways, but dare I say it, she could if there was enough lies told-"

"SILENCE." The room followed the loud command and everyone looked back up at Zeus. "Athena, what solid proof do you have that she won't go against us?"

Athena replied, "She has a good heart, Zeus. I just think if she were to be taught the good ways of Greek - and possibly the Roman ways - of all of us, she could be prepared if Gaea has planned to use her. I don't believe she was ever suppose to be pulled away from where she was, but she was pulled away from _there_ for _something_. We need to think heavily on the situation. As I have authority to this and if my plan fails in the end, I take full responsibly. I can guide her if she has troubles. I promise on the river of Styx." Something about the name made the "meeting" less tense and the one called Zeus motioned for me to walk forward. I didn't move though.

"Athena, just made sure nothing goes wrong, _please_." Athena nodded, then shrunk down to a regular size, walking towards me.

"Well child, are you ready to meet your fate?" she asked. I looked around me for a moment before nodding cautiously. She touched my arm and for a moment, everything had died away and all I could see was black smoke around us. It went away as fast as it had come and then I found myself at a tree line in a forest. Two torches lit up in the broad daylight of the forest, illuminating words in Greek on the archway.

"Camp Half-Blood," I finally said, staring at it in amazement. It wasn't as amazing as the last place I was, but it looked extraordinary. It took me a while to put two and two together, but I finally registered it was pure daylight, when just a few moments ago, it was almost like midnight.

"We're in a different place, like a different time-zone if you will," Athena (I think) said. _Had she read my thoughts?_ I thought quietly to myself. I shook the idea away and looked through the archway. Teenagers were running around like crazy, some a little younger than teenage years, and a few adult-looking people were ordering other people around. If I looked close enough, a lot of people were carrying swords or spears, or other dangerous objects I had no intention of going near in the future.

"Genevieve, listen to me," Athena said as I turned to look at her, "you are not to refer to your real name here in Camp Half-Blood. I want you to go by the name Cal. Alright?" I nodded my head and she continued, "I can't do anything about your cuts or bruises or wash away all the grime, but I'm going to change your attire - Aphrodite forbid it if she ever knew." Athena suddenly waved her hand like it was nothing and when I looked down, the ancient dress I had been wearing shimmered and was replaced with an ash jacket and black skinny jeans. _Whoa. And wait, when did I get bruises and cuts?_

"And Cal," for some reason, the name was unfamiliar to my ears, so at first, I didn't turn towards her. But then realization stuck in the air and I looked up to meet her intense blue eyes. "I want you to learn the ways here. I want you to make as many friends as possible-"

"Does that mean everyone here I can be friends with?" I asked awkwardly, cutting her off. She shifted for a moment in deep thought before lightly responding with, "Don't go near Nico di Angelo or anyone from the Hermes or Ares cabin and you should be fine." Before I could ask what that meant, she screamed, "Annabeth!"

I looked in the archway. A girl with long blonde hair had stopped, walking towards us in a shocked manner.

"Mom?" she asked, smiling. Then she bowed. Was it essential to bow to people like Athena?

"Hi Annabeth," Athena said, walking up to Annabeth and hugging her. She let go shortly after and then motioned towards me. "This is Cal, a new half blood. You think you can take her in?"

Annabeth looked me over (which made me very self-conscience) before nodding enthusiastically.

"Sure," she said.

"Tell Chiron I said to let her stay in the Athena cabin, okay?" Annabeth nodded before hugging her mother (I guess) and then turned around.

When she realized no one was following her, she turned to me.

"Well, aren't you coming?" I looked around me, probably expecting to see someone else I was missing and that Annabeth was suppose to be talking to. When I found no one, I looked back at her and hesitantly followed. It was like an electric shock I had after I walked in the archway of the camp. Annabeth started leading me past a volleyball court to this big house. It looked old, but old fashioned, so comfortable in some ways.

"Chiron!" Annabeth called. A man- No, a HORSE turned and looked over at us. He waved us over and then it was like he finally realized I was there.

"My, my . . . Who do we have here, Annabeth?" Annabeth turned to me and bobbed her head towards Chiron, telling me to introduce myself.

"I-I'm Cal." My voice quivered as I said the words. I let a small wave of my hand flash before bowing my head in shyness. _Wait, I'm shy?_

"Well now, you must be a new camper." Chiron trotted over to me and gestured towards Annabeth. "However did she get here though? And why is she so tattered up?"

I looked down at my hands and realized what my thoughts were earlier. When _did_ I get so many cuts and bruises? It was probably from sleeping on the streets, moving through that broken glass from earlier, or, oh yeah! Getting chased by other monsters.

Annabeth looked towards me before saying bluntly, "She was probably chased by monsters. And Athena brought her here." Chiron looked shocked to say the least.

"She must be very special then," he went on. "Gods and goddesses only bring very powerful demigods to the camp themselves if it was important. Tell me child, how old are you?" It took me a while to realize what he was asking, but then I finally answered, "Uh . . . I think I'm thirteen?" It came out more as a question than an answer. I shrugged afterwards to indicate I didn't know. He then asked, "And have you been claimed yet?" like he had done this every day.

It took me a while to process before I answered, "What does that mean?" Chiron narrowed his eyes.

"It means you don't know who your godly parents are. Annabeth, send her to the Hermes cabin so we can get her settled in-"

"Athena told me to settle her in the Athena cabin, Chiron," Annabeth cut him off, repeating Athena's words form earlier. It made me realize something: I didn't like being around these people. When I was around Athena, I felt safe. I don't know about anyone else though.

Sighing, Chiron nodded.

Annabeth took my arm and started leading me towards a river, where we walked over a bridge. When she started slowing her pace, I noticed ten cabins coming in to view as we came closer. They were line in a U shaped and people came running out of one cabin, and other people came walking out, talking to what seemed like friends. It all looked . . . lively.

"This is the Athena cabin, where you will be staying," Annabeth suddenly said, opening a door to the cleanest place I had ever seen since living on the streets. The beds were made, tucked in, and occasionally with a person laying on top, reading a book or silently napping. Annabeth led me over to a clear bunk in the very back and patted the top of the bunk. "And you will be sleeping here. No one's under you, but something tells me you can manage up here." I nodded and stood there, probably waiting for something to happen.

"You've never heard about Greek gods and goddesses, have you?" I looked up and envied my own thoughts. I had no idea what these people were talking about, but shook my head and she smiled. "We'll fix that, but right now, lets get you a shower and some other clothes. You probably need to have a nap. You look like you were chased by a Minotaur." The familiar name of the monster came to mind and the urge couldn't be resisted.

"I was," I spoke loud enough for her to hear. "And other monsters."

Annabeth looked up at me in shock. The shock disappeared and settled into a gobsmacked encountered emotion.

"You've been through a lot," she replied. "Let's just get you settled in."


	2. Chapter 2

When I woke up, Annabeth was shaking my shoulders.

"How long was I asleep?" I asked, rubbing the grub from my eyes.

"Two days, not that long." Not that long?! TWO DAYS, ANNABETH.

I didn't have time to get out of the bunk before Annabeth was ordering me around and rushing me through another shower. I had taken one yesterday and then she gave me some night clothes. But, I guess it's essential to be very clean at Camp Half-Blood.

"Trust me," she had said while throwing clothes at me, "you sweat a lot here. You're going to need as many showers as you can get." I only nodded and got dressed along with Annabeth and the other Athena members. There were about twelve Athena daughters and sons. I only knew Malcolm and Annabeth. Annabeth seemed to be my only friend though.

"Okay, Cal. Here's your schedule." Annabeth handed me a piece of paper (which I took gently) and I canned over it.

_8:00 AM BREAKFAST & CABIN INSPECTION_

9:00 AM - 10:00 AM SWORD & SHIELD W/CLARISSE - CABIN  
CHALLENGE, FULL COMBAT ARMOR REQUIRED.

10:00 AM - 11:00 AM ARCHERY W/CHIRON - TARGET PRACTICE  
PROPER USE OF FLAMING ARROWS.

11:00 AM - 1:00 PM WINGED HORSEBACK RIDING  
W/DEMETER CABIN - FIRST HOUR TRAIL  
PICNIC LUNCH, SECOND HOUR AERIAL COMBAT

1:00 PM - 2:00 PM MONSTER ASSAULT TECHNIQUES  
W/HERMES CABIN - ETHIOPIAN DRACONES:  
THEIR TEETH, CLAWS, AND FEEDING HABITS

2:00 PM - 4:00 PM FREE CHOICE - ARTS AND CRAFTS  
W/HEPHAESTUS CABIN - MAKE YOUR OWN  
BRONZE WEAPON

OR CANOE RACES W/NAIADS - 1ST PLACE  
PRIZE: 20 DRACHMA CREDIT AT THE CAMP STORE

OR CLIMBING WALL W/SATYRS - "THE  
CLASHING ROCKS"

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM SWIM & BEACH TIME W/THE NEREIDS-  
BRING SUNSCREEN, DISCUS, JAVELIN, ETC.

5:00 PM - 6:00 PM FREE TIME, VOLLEYBALL, CABIN  
CLEAN-UP

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM CAPTURE THE FLAG - COMBAT GEAR  
REQUIRED, ALL MAGICAL ITEMS ALLOWED.

9:00 PM - 10:00 PM SING-A-LONG AND BONFIRE W/APOLLO  
CABIN

10:00 PM PREPARE FOR BED - LIGHTS OUT BY 11:00PM

"What's most of this stuff? And who's Clarisse-"

"We'll get to that later. Right now, lets just get you to sword and shield. Here's a muffin-" she handed me a muffin, "-because you missed breakfast. First, we have to stop by the armory and get you a sword and then we have to go to sword and shield. Dear Gods I hope Clarisse doesn't kill you." On the way to the armory, I ate the chocolate chip muffin and Annabeth studied my hands before going in.

I don't even know what remotely happened. I guess Annabeth found a dagger and sword and then dragged me back out.

"Annabeth!" She almost made me trip. On any other day, I would be completely alright with this, but today I was just tired.

"Oh hush. We're here." I looked around to see a wide Colosseum. The Arena, I guessed. Inside, there were around fifteen campers, all fighting. Clashes of metal erupted all around the place. But I only noticed a girl standing in the corner. She was tall, bulky in the arms, and she held a spear to her right.

"Clarisse!" I jumped when Annabeth shouted to te girl in the corner. Clarisse started walking over and stopped in front of us.

"What?" she asked. _Rude._

"This is Cal. Do you have a spare shield that will fit her or not?" Annabeth bit back. I looked around shyly as the other campers stopped fighting and turned toward us.

"Yeah. Cal is it? There's a table over there at the end." Clarisse pointed to a table behind her and I had to take a step to the right to look past her. "You can go ahead and pick a shield that fits you. We'll suit you up in some armor in a little bit." After Clarisse waved for me to go off, I walked towards the lone table and looked at everything.

_Was I really going to fight?_ I thought. _I- I've never even fought before. I'm going to screw up-_

"Need some help?" I started, turning around and bumping into the table behind me, making the shields and armor bounce. That got me a few looks from the campers. I shot a look at the boy. He gave me a goofy smile and chuckled. "Sorry; didn't mean to scare you."

I sighed and said, "It's alright. I'm just kind of jumpy."

"Everyone is."

"Good to know." A silence hung in the air after that so I took this time to study him. Dark hair, sea green eyes, tall. He reminded me of the ocean for some reason.

"So . . . you need help?" I nodded and he started shoving away armor and shields.

"This shield looks like it'd fit you." He held up a shield and waiting for me to do something.. I nodded and he helped me strap the shield to my arm. We found a breast plate afterwards, and a helmet that was a little too big for me, but it would protect me nonetheless.

"Oh and hey." I looked up at the boy and he gave me that goofy smile again. "Don't worry about Clarisse. She's a hothead," he whispered. I chuckled, making Annabeth and Clarisse look over at me slyly.

"Thanks, I'll try," I said back, still chuckling. "Oh and what's your name?"

"Percy, son of Posieden. Yours?"

"Cal, and unclaimed. It was nice to meet you by the way."

"You too," he said, then walked over to some other people.

I started walking over to Annabeth and Clarisse, who were talking in waht seemed like an argument.

"He got here yesterday while she was sleeping-"

"And you want to pair them up Clarisse?! That's insane!"

"It's a good pairing, Annabeth."

"You're insane Clarisse. She won't last against him-"

"It's just one fight, Annabeth. Gods, don't get your panties in a twist."

"Clarisse, he'll kill her."

"No he won't-"

"Hey guys," I said, taking the opportunity to let them know I was here. They both abruptly stopped to stare at me and give me an apologetic smile before Annabeth parted away.

"Hey Cal. Um . . . Clarisse found out who you would be going up against today, and you don't even have to fight today-"

"Annabeth, yes, she does!" Clarisse demanded. Annabeth turned away but couldn't get a word out when someone walked in. I don't know if it was just me or it was actually happening, but the whole arena went silent when that someone walked in.

It was clearly a boy, because he had masculine features. He was half scrawny, half average in the weight department. He was obviously tall, a little lanky, and sleep-deprived, because of the dark bags under his eyes. I almost didn't notice anything else until the metal chain he used as a belt jingled when he walked forward. His shirt had a pattern of supposedly dancing skulls on black fabric, wore saggy black jeans that hung just right off his hips, and carried a sword to his right. That thing looked _deaddly_.

"Nico!" Clarisse called over. He started shuffling over our way and campers in the arena began fighting again. When Nico finally reached us, Clarisse clapped Nico on the back and faced him towards Annabeth and I.

"This is Cal, Nico," Clarisse introduced. I don't know why, but Nico was staring at me. His eyebrows were furrowed and he started to pale . . . like become more paler than he was.

His first words towards me? Well, they were, "Do I know you?"


	3. Chapter 3

Nico's face began to pale, even as I let out a, "No, I don't think so," after his question. He looked completely calm, just drained of more and more color.

"Uhm . . . Are you okay?" I asked, as he continued to stare at me. Clarisse and Annabeth just stood to our sides, looking completely confused and Nico was just . . . staring. He was just staring at me with those cold, death-content eyes. It gave me the shivers as I continued to stare at them, but as the silence continued on and on, I realized he knew something. He was looking at me in disbelief, almost as if he knew something I didn't.

Well, whatever I was missing, he sure knew it.

"Where exactly did you come from?" he asked suddenly. The question took me back. I had to hold back my tongue, keeping myself from saying, "I DON'T KNOW." But the more and more I thought about it, the more I realized I didn't really know where I came from. I woke up on the street one day and started running because there was this giant bird thingy flying above me. And it was a monster. Then the next thing I know, I got chased by a bunch of monsters that led me to the Empire State Building, and then I ended up in Olympus. Then Athena took me here. That's all I can really remember. How long has it been since I woke up? Maybe . . . a month ago? Gods, I can't remember!

"I don't know," I finally said, confusing Annabeth and Clarisse more. "I just . . . woke up and then a few weeks later, I'm here." I looked up from the ground to Nico. He didn't look the least bit confused, but one thing I did notice: fear coated those black eyes. He definitely knows something I don't.

"Did you wake up in New York, or in Europe?" he asked bluntly. That's a weir question. But . . . something in it made me feel . . . indifferent. I woke up in Europe and sneaked up on a ship to New York. How- how did he know that?

"Europe," I answered, unsteady confidence lacing my voice.

I could have almost reassured you that Nico was going to faint, but he didn't. He just pinched the bridge of his nose and took in deep, melancholy breaths, almost as if he were going to cry.

"You don't remember anything before waking up?" he asked. Why was he asking me so many questions?

As if Annabeth had heard my thoughts, she walked up to Nico and told him straight up, "Nico, why are you asking all of this from her? Do you know anything?" Nico did not answer. Instead, he just sighed and turned to Clarisse.

"Who am I paired up with today, Clarisse?" Clarisse pointed to me and Nico didn't even have to turn his head to know it was me. He silently cursed under his breath, walking over to the back table and picking up a shield that had a drakon battling with a satyr. He slipped it on and then walked back over to us, motioning for me to come along.

"You know how to fight?" I shrugged. I only fought those monsters who were chasing me. I don't know if I really knew how to fight though.

"I only fought the creatures who chased me. I don't really know how to use battle technique or anything like that, but I swung a stick at a snake that tried to eat me." I chuckled dryly, making Nico do the same.

"Well, in Greek battling, we try to use as much strategy as possible. I guess that's why we were kind of better than the Roman's in our category." Nico gave a sly smile and a glint of happiness flashed across his eyes. Without a heartbeat of time, Nico continued, "In battle strategy, we try to find the opponent's weaknesses when the move; what parts they don't cover up, and observe." I looked around me to see a lot of people were doing what Nico had mentioned. From left to right, people were clanking metal against metal as their swords wip-lashed across each other. Nico was right: battle strategy is about weakness.

I barely had time to dodge the sword that was an inch away from my face. I dropped my shield in the process. When the sword passed, I gave Nico a bewildered look and he just answered back with a smirk.

"You're always, _always_ suppose to be alert, Cal." I took that as my shot to swing my sword at his right side, achieving at nicking his shirt. Why wasn't he wearing armor? My question was answered when I realized he was wearing a brown, leather vest under his shirt. _Does he wear that all the time or when he knows he's going to get his butt kick?_ I couldn't help it. I just _knew_ I was going to win. But my hopes faltered when Nico nicked my cheek. And man, did it _burn_.

I swung my sword at him again, this time at his sword, making both of our swords clash in a rage of metal to metal. Flushing my sword to the side, I managed to twist Nico's sword from his hands . . . almost. He held the sword tightly, shooting it back up to connect with my thigh. A little part of my jeans ripped, but not by much.

I swung my sword under, making it rip up the middle of Nico's shirt. It was still connected, but ripped horribly, which made Nico very angry. He upper-cutted from the left, missing my face by no more than a centimeter.

I slashed my sword right under his leg, hitting the heel of his feet, making him lose his balance. He fell backwards, landing on his tailbone first before being flat-centered on the ground. I held my sword at his neck, crouching a little whilst kicking his sword away from his reach. He was completely defenseless.

He was panting, trying to catch his breath. His eyes were wild, darting back and forth from me to the campers. It was then I noticed, the campers had stopped fighting and were circled around us, staring at Nico and I in astonishment. My shield, laying on the ground, was picked up my Clarisse and Annabeth ran over to see what was happening.

I removed my sword, then helped Nico up who quickly picked up his sword and hung it back to his side. Before I could do anything else, or even apologize to Nico, the campers started clapping. What did I do? I almost killed one of the campers. . .

"Wow Cal. Who knew you were good at fighting," Nico muttered, giving me a dirty look. That same, fearful look glimmered in his eyes though. I'd have to talk to him later.

I walked over to Clarisse and took the shield, but not quick enough because Clarisse then said, "Where did you learn to fight? That was not Greek battle strategy of what I saw." I shrugged, giving her a look that said _I-don't-know-please-leave-me-alone_. She must have got it, because she shouted for everyone to get back to fighting. When they were all gone, Nico nudged me.

I turned, only to be dragged to the shield and sword table.

"C'mon, it's almost time to go to the next activity," was all he said.

"Do you have archery practice with Chiron?" I asked, laying the shield back on the table and wondering what I should do with my sword. I guess I could bring it back to the armory . . .

"Yes, and you can set the sword on the table." How did he- Oh. I was looking at my sword for a while. Wow. I can be stupid sometimes. I layed the beginners sword on the table and pulled my helmet off, laying it beside the sword. I took the breast plate off last, laying it over the others and waited for Nico.

He was already done and dragged me outside as Clarisse shouted, "ALRIGHT. GET OUT AND GO TO YOUR NEXT ACTIVITY." Annabeth, sadly, had Greek language next. I wonder why I didn't have to take it.

When we got to the field, people were already shooting arrows, and not just arrows. _Flaming arrows_.

Well, this should be fun.

I sighed, plopping myself down at the Athena table with my food. Annabeth looked over at my singed clothes and only said, "The climbing wall?" I nodded.

"They had me on it for three hours. I didn't even get to cool off on the beach, Annabeth." I sipped on from my goblet-like-cup which was filled with Sprite. I had drank Sprite a lot while coming from Europe to New York. It was my favorite drink, other than Dr. Pepper or Mr. Pibb.

Annabeth took me over to the fire in the pavilion and had me scrape half of my food in the pile (which was my pizza) and then we sat back down, me eating my grapes, oranges, and strawberries. Annabeth looked at me weirdly.

"What?" I asked, peeling the skin off the orange and setting the strawberries aside.

"You're not seriously just eating that . . . are you?" I nodded slyly, scooping the peelings on a napkin and biting into a piece. Annabeth wouldn't have any of that. She scooted some Chinese noodles onto my plate (which I did not eat and gave to Malcolm - another Athenian - who ate it with much joy) and I ate my fruits happily.

Annabeth sighed and said, "You should eat some meat. You'll want it when we play Capture the Flag." I gave her a weird look for that.

"I don't like meat and what's Capture the Flag?"

"Don't worry about it. Now, about you not liking meat . . . are you a vegetarian?" I shrugged.

"I don't like dairy, meat, or anything animal related. Your point?"

"My point is more of a conclusion; you, my friend, are a vegan." I smiled at that and finished off the orange. After eating my grapes and strawberries, Chiron walked on the stage.

"Tonight we're playing Capture the Flag with a new camper. Cal!" I shot up, not expecting my name to be called. "Cal, who is standing, is our new camper." A few people applauded. I noticed them as some of the people who watched me climb the wall, or who shot arrows, or who beat Nico at battle combat.

Now, before I say anything else, apparently achieving to reach the top of the climbing wall on your first try is very exciting. And learning how to shoot flaming arrows at a bulls-eye is very successful and scary and shocking all the same. So, after all that, most people bet on me that I was a daughter of Apollo or Ares. But no one could really put me in a category at the moment.

I sat back down and the applause faded, much to my happiness, and Chiron went on about our armor, our weapons, and that all magical-items are included.

_I wish I knew my powers_, I thought as a naiad put more grapes and strawberries on my plate. I smiled at her and she waved, slipping out of sight.

"Alright! Now, everyone, suit up and we'll put you in teams!" Everyone rushed off, some people high-fiving others and putting armor on and grabbing helmets. Most people already knew who they'd be paired up with. I think I was on the Athena's cabin, so I grabbed a blue helmet, like Annabeth and Malcolm had and grabbed a shield. Nico ran over to me and grabbed my arm. I noticed he wore a red helmet, too. This should be fun.

"I found a sword that fit you best, if you want it." Nico held up a sword. The left side of the blade looked black, like Nico's. The right side of the sword was a golden color. When I turned the sword over, it was the same thing; black left, gold right. _So the black is really on both sides. The same as the gold. . ._

"The black is stygian iron, like my sword-" he held up his black stygian iron sword, demonstrating before continuing on, "-and the gold is celestial-imperial gold. I hope you like it, but I have to catch up with my team!" he said, then ran off.

In my mind, I uttered a silent thanks and grabbed a dagger. I slid it up under my sleeve of the Camp Half-Blood shirt and caught up with Annabeth who was waiting for me.

"So what do we do with Capture the Flag?" I asked, catching up to her side.

"The objective is to get the other team's flag. Just to be safe, I'm putting you on guard of the flag with Malcolm and Terry from the Apollo cabin." I nodded, feeling a little disappointed I wouldn't be able to fight. If I was guard, there was a good chance I wouldn't get to fight. But there was a little hope sticking up in my mind.

Annabeth explained to me who was on who's team:

Red (the offensive):  
Zeus  
Poseidon  
Ares  
Apollo  
Hephaestus  
Hermes  
Hades  
Hypnos  
Nike  
Tyche

Blue (the defensive):  
Hera  
Demeter  
Athena  
Artemis  
Aphrodite  
Dionysus  
Iris  
Nemesis  
Hebe  
Hecate

So . . . We got most of the Goddesses . . . Annabeth told me the Aphrodite cabin just hangs around the flag. She also wished me good luck . . . Something about the Aphrodite kids complaining and being lazy.

Annabeth told me where the flag was, and so, I made my way into the woods, where Zeus' Fist was. What joy. Annabeth even told me to watch out because, "There's monsters in the woods."

What joy. More monsters. Like I haven't dealt with enough.

I sighed, reaching the Blue Flag in peace, seeing some of the Aphrodite campers already strung around Zeus' Fist. Drew (the head of the cabin) was leaning against the pole of the flag, sharpening her nails and muttering about getting cut by a branch on the way here. I sighed and sat at the edge of the woods behind a boulder, watching out for animals, monsters, and the red team.

Everything went so silent . . .

And then I saw Nico in the tree, right above me, staring down at me with that same, cocky smirk.


	4. Chapter 4

I was practically screaming inside as he started to climb higher up the tree. I kept wondering if Nico had a death wish. He couldn't possibly fall off the tree, yet make it alive. He was practically thirty feet up in the air. Forty. Fifty . . . Oh my Gods.

But then, he looked down at me and pressed a finger to his pale lips, telling me to be as quiet as possible. And then . . . he disappeared. Black smoke hung around where he was, and as I looked around for where he was, but I couldn't find him. Then there he was. Right at the base of our flag, the Aphrodite kids running away into the forest. Wow.

Before Nico could get away with the flag, I started running towards him. When I tackled him, the flag fell, and he disappeared again, leaving a trail of black smoke in his lead. I grabbed the flag, hoisting it back on Zeus' fist and circled it, my sword raised, my shield out, prepared to fight. I couldn't find Nico anywhere, but after a few minutes, I saw smoke in one of the trees above me. I flipped around, hearing a small leaf get trampled and I flung Nico to the ground, his shield colliding with a nearby tree.

I heard him growl before he hopped up, disappearing again.

_How does he do that?_ I thought, darting my eyes to every corner of my vision. Nico appeared at the edge of the tree line and crossed his arms, probably mad.

"Fine! Have it your way!" he screamed, running back into the forest. I could hear growls of frustration from the Ares cabin. I could faintly hear them, but I could hear enough.

"You idiot!" Clarisse screamed. "You had one simple job! What went wrong?!"

"SHUT UP CLARISSE," Nico shouted back in frustration. "She saw me and blocked me. I couldn't do _anything_, okay? And when I got the flag, she took it back. STOP YELLING AT ME OR ELSE WE'RE GOING TO GET CAUGHT."

That shut everyone up.

Malcolm came running back out of the forest, Drew to her left.

"Where were you?!" I exclaimed, dipping my sword down. "Nico came and almost stole the flag!"

Malcolm shuffled over sheepishly and replied with, "Drew dragged me off and I wasn't allowed to come back until Nico was gone. I'm sorry, Cal. I shouldn't have left you here to defend the flag on your own-"

"It's alright," I said, sighing in defeat. Then I heard twigs snapping. I spun around, only to be tackled by one of the Ares campers.

"Get . . . OFF!" I screamed, squirming under the amount of weight he was pushing onto me. I could barely see the flag, but when I did, Nico had a hold of it and was running the opposite direction of where he had ran to the last time.

Malcolm ran over, raising the hilt of her sword and bashing it against the Ares' camper's helmet, making him collapse to my left.

"Thanks," I managed to say before running in the direction Nico had ran, Malcolm screaming at me to come back. But I couldn't. I could see Nico's black hair, even though sunset was clearly coming out. _Why is it getting dark so fast?_ I kept running after him, planting my feet on the dirt instead of the leaves so I wouldn't leave behind much noise. Nico - on the other hand - was making lots of racket by stepping on every leaf and twig as he possibly could. Was he _trying _to get caught?

I was only a yard behind him when he suddenly spun around, swinging the flag pole under my legs, causing me to lose y balance and fall backwards. I stood up once again, and he was prepared, holding the blue flag and his stygian iron sword up.

"You're fast," he said, huffing slightly. I only nodded, raising my sword up and flinging my shield somewhere in the forest. After that was accomplished, Nico struck his sword in the ground. At first, I was a little confused, but then, the ground started to split where he had cut it. One by one, skeletons began to crawl out, swords, shields, and all prepared to fight.

The shock that ran through my veins was compressed to determination as I swung my sword through the first skeleton. He crumbled to the ground, falling back into the earth and I faced the others.

_One down, fourteen to go_, I thought as I started slashing back and forth with bones flinging themselves back into the earth. The dirt was practically swallowing them, and it seemed it didn't happen before, because Nico looked ghostly pale.

When I took down the last skeleton, Nico shot the flag into the ground and ran at me, sword raised. I dodged, twisting myself towards the right and he darted right past me, only stopping a second before he lodged the sword into my sword. I twisted, making him almost collapse. I kept looking back over to the flag to make sure it was still there and of course, it was, but we're in the woods. And there were lots of campers playing this.

In the distance, I thought I heard Annabeth screaming in rage about the flag being gone, but I could only hope someone would capture the red team's flag.

I was finally able to grab the flag before Nico could regain balance. Running, I started feeling like I wasn't running at all. My legs were practically jelly, burning and turning to rubber under me, but I kept running. I only stopped when I saw a small clearing next to a river, red helmets showing. But then they started yelling at someone who came through, and then they ran off, leaving a scrawny Apollo kid in their wake. And he stodd there, guarding the red team's flag.

I didn't even think before i started running in. I just drove the blue flag to his stomach, flinging him to the ground with his bow and arrows flying off Gods only know where.

Then I grabbed their flag.

And then I began to run through the trees, about to reach salvation.

Arrows flew past me in rage and I could hear some of the campers cursing louder then anything. Annabeth was at Zeus' fist, looking defeated as ever until I screamed at her.

"ANNABETH!" She shot her head up, her eyes lighting up at the sight of the blue flag. Then her eyes grew to plates when she saw the red flag. She beamed, running towards me. Once she was behind me, she dodged the arrows off her blade.

"Where have you been?" she asked as we ran through the brush.

"I was getting our flag back and then . . ." I was loosing breath from all the running. "and then I found the- the red team's flag and I . . . I knocked out an Apollo kid to get it!"

We were halfway there. Zeus' fist was clear in our vision and I could see Chiron in the brush beyond it, clambering next to a satyr. They seemed to be talking, observing all of us as we were playing the dangerous game. He caught my eyes, but only for a minute when Nico re-appeared in front of me. Annabeth was several feet behind me, dodging Hermes campers.

Nico shot his blade up to my face. I shot backwards, driving my sword at him, creating a large cut on his cheek. He didn't even grimace as his footing began to match up quicker.

"Give me the flags," he demanded, spinning around and knocking me to my side on the ground.

I felt like I was giving up, but then something started to spill in me. Was this anger? Frustration? I didn't know, but when Nico raised his sword hilt to knock me out, I raised both of my arms over my face fore protection, only leaving a small gap to see if he was really going to do it.

I could only let out a large, "NO," before I saw him bring his sword down. So I waited for the loss of losing, but it never came.

Instead, a wave of the earth seemed to follow my arms, clashing unto Nico's side and plowing him into another tree. Shock overwhelmed me. I couldn't move. It was like no one could. Everyone just seemed to be watching this small scene, and then stopped. And for a moment, the woods were quiet.

"Go!" someone yelled. I looked behind me to see Annabeth running towards me. I picked up the flags I had set down (since I was being stupid and dropped them to protect my stupid face) and we began running. Out team was cheering.

When Annabeth and I reached Zeus' fist, I dropped both of our flags and collapsed. I couldn't stand anymore. I was wore out, deathly tired, and the piece of me that wanted me to do what I did to Nico was still deep in my chest. I was sure I had done that to him. Everyone probably knew that too.

Chiron clambered over to us, Annabeth leaning over with her hands on her knees, gasping for air. Everyone was tired, no surprise there. But it wasn't new, I guessed. This probably happened all the time.

My body was lifted off the ground by two of the Artemis campers. My feeet just lay underneath me, slightly lifted off the ground. Wow. Who knew being short would lead me to this. I feel kind of ashamed, now that I noticed my height. But all worried vanished when Chiron was in front of me. But then the worried re-appeared when he gave me a wavering look.

"Cal . . ." he trailed off, trying to find words. "How . . . why, you don't even have a scratch on you. And what-"

I wasn't looking at Chiron anymore when he was cut off. He wasn't cut off my someone else's voice, but something no one was expecting.

No, not a monster if you wondering. But there, right above my head (even though I wasn't looking and had no idea what everyone was looking at) was a small symbol.

When I looked up, I saw the image of the earth, perfectly implanted in gold. It glowed slightly before fading away, and then something strange happened. It started to rain inside Camp Half-Blood. Thunder was clashing above our heads, but it didn't matter because we were all soaking wet. But it did matter when Chiron started walking backwards.

"That's impossible . . ." he muttered, keeping calmer than the campers around me. The Artemis campers let go of my arms, and I wavered on my feet, swaying drowsily.

The last thing I heard before collapsing on the ground was Chiron saying, "Cal . . . is the daughter of Gaea, Goddess of the earth."

* * *

**Sorry this chapter sucked. I suck at battle scenes. :p Hope you all enjoyed it though! ^-^**


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